W. Bresser et al., OBSERVATION OF THE ROOM-TEMPERATURE TE-125 MOSSBAUER-EFFECT IN MG3TEO6 - LINEWIDTH, RECOIL-FREE FRACTION, AND ISOMER-SHIFT, Physical review. B, Condensed matter, 47(18), 1993, pp. 11663-11669
Fifty-eight-day Te-125m in a Mg3TeO6 host provides an easily produced,
rugged, high recoil-free fraction and narrow-emission-linewidth sourc
e for Te-125 Mossbauer spectroscopy. The high f factor of this source
opens the possibility of precision T-dependent Mossbauer-spectroscopy
measurements in Te-bearing compounds with the source kept at room temp
erature. Using such a source at 300 K, we have measured the T dependen
ce of the f factor for both Mg3TeO6 and cubic ZnTe absorbers and find
Debye temperatures THETA(D) of 390(2) K and 188(2) K, respectively. At
300 K, the f factor of MG3TeO6 (0.46) is found to be an order of magn
itude larger than in cubic ZnTe (0.040) thus making feasible room-temp
erature observation of the Mossbauer effect with the oxide source. Bot
h emission and absorption linewidths of the oxide matrix have been exa
mined and display a 14(3)% line broadening over the natural width (GAM
MA(n)), a result that is thought to be intrinsic to the oxide host. Th
e isomer shift of Te metal (78 K) and cubic ZnTe (78 K) relative to Mg
3TeO6 at 300 K is +1.86(9) and +1.21(3) mm/s, respectively. Mg3TeO6 is
easily prepared in a pure form and yields reproducible crystal struct
ure and Mossbauer-effect parameters. Mg3TeO6 provides a suitable stand
ard matrix for Te-125 isomer shift and f-factor measurements.